August 08, 2013

Slate Won't Call NFL Team 'Redskins' Any More: "This is the last Slate article that will refer to the Washington NFL team as the Redskins," writes David Plotz. "Americans think differently about race and the language of race than we did 80 years ago. We now live in a world, for instance, in which it's absolutely unacceptable for an NFL player to utter a racial slur. Changing the way we talk is not political correctness run amok. It reflects an admirable willingness to acknowledge others who once were barely visible to the dominant culture, and to recognize that something that may seem innocent to you may be painful to others."

"Washington Redtails" sounds about as silly as the (now) New Orleans Pelicans. The Redskins, along with Indians and Braves, have long been a part of sports identification, plus most Americans likely don't give a damn about the name.

Good on 'em. While I agree with the author that they don't carry the weight that the Washington Post or ESPN would, this is not an insignificant statement, and I hope it gains some more traction. Who knows, if this goes over well, maybe it would help the Post to take a similar action.

Also, Dan Snyder is an idiot. The 'Indian Chief' who he got to defend the name (linked from the Slate piece) is just the latest in a long list of stupid stuff he has done.

Most Americans likely aren't members of minority groups. But it behooves us to be sensitive to those who are, for civil rights reasons, mutual respect considerations, and the entirely reasonable sense that one should generally avoid being a dick.

I've weighed in previously on the Red Tails name, which I think would be a cool solution.

I think you might be surprised. There's a long and glorious history of debate on this subject here at SpoFi, if you want to read some of the more cogent arguments (on both sides). And if this site represents a microcosm of American thought (god help us!), it seems ike a majority actually have an opinion one way or another.

I wonder what the popular opinion was in 1962 when Marshall fought the Kennedy administration to keep black athletes from playing on his team? They were the last team to integrate.

As a white male American, I have, as part of my DNA, the requisite amount of guilt relating to what my race did in the past to build this nation. Of course it's an offensive name. Change it and let's move on.

And since we're talking about new names, I like the Washington Purple Dragons.